Thursday

Former Lakeland City Attorney Tim McCausland pleads not guilty to charges related to his Oct. 9 arrest as part of an undercover sex sting at a hotel in Brandon.

LAKELAND — Former Lakeland City Attorney Tim McCausland pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges associated with his Oct. 9 arrest in an undercover sex sting.

McCausland, 69, of Bartow, was one of eight individuals arrested and faces one misdemeanor charge of unlawful acts related to a public solicitation event. He was released on $250 bond.

A heavily redacted police affidavit first received by The Ledger from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office revealed little to nothing about McCausland's alleged actions that led to his arrest.

It simply stated that undercover officers had posted fake ads on an adult escort website to lure people to a hotel near South Falkenburg Road and East Adamo Drive in an operation designed to take aim at human trafficking.

An unredacted affidavit, posted online by Hillsborough County's Clerk of Court, reveals additional details about events police detectives said led to an arrest.

McCausland initiated contact with the undercover detective posing as a prostitute via text, according to the sworn statement. It was not clear whether the text was made via phone, website or a messaging app.

Upon entering the hotel room, McCausland placed $120 cash on a table in exchange for a half hour of “service,” according to the sworn statement.

“The defendant embraced the undercover deputy in a hug and grabbed her hand, rubbing her hand along his groin area,” reads the unredacted affidavit. “The defendant told the undercover deputy to remove her shirt and the undercover deputy removed two of her three layers of clothing. The defendant groped the undercover deputy by grabbing her breasts, with his hands, over her clothing, in an attempt to screen for law enforcement.”

McCausland allegedly attempted to search the undercover agent, triggering his arrest at 11:40 a.m last Wednesday. Lakeland officials said the former city attorney was slated to work that day but his calendar, obtained by The Ledger, showed no scheduled meetings or phone conferences.

Despite being released from police custody at approximately 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, McCausland did not show up at city hall for work Thursday morning.

McCausland delivered a formal letter of retirement to city officials prior to 7 a.m. Oct. 11, which became effective immediately upon processing. In his retirement letter, the former city attorney asked that he receive full benefits afforded any retiring employee including the retiree health insurance plan if he chose, his health savings stipend, a payout of his accrued sick and leave time, and requested to either keep possession or purchase his city-owned iPad.

City Manager Tony Delgado said he would seek a return of the iPad. Delgado said the tablet was returned to Mayor Bill Mutz on Sunday but the device had been factory reset.

Lakeland spokesman Kevin Cook said the device was given over to Josh Wilson, the city's manager of information security, in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve browser data in accordance with public information requests made by The Ledger in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law.

“We do not keep any other copy of record separate from the device itself,” Wilson stated in an internal city email.

The Ledger also has requested copies of McCausland's cellphone text messages in an effort to determine if he had been corresponding with the undercover detective during employment or attendance of the Oct. 7 city meetings.

Cook said McCausland only had a personal cellphone for which he received a stipend, but only work-related text messages would be subject to public records requests under the state's Sunshine law.

McCausland has retained Tampa-based attorney Ronald Patrick Hanes of Trombley & Hanes to represent him in court proceedings related to his arrest. Hanes did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday morning.

The city commission is expected to discuss the city attorney vacancy and possible candidate at its agenda study meeting scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday.

McCausland's next court appearance is slated for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 20 in Hillsborough County Court, according to the most recent Notice of Hearing on the court of clerk website.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545.

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